Firestorm
Taylor Anderson
PROLOGUE
ALLIED SITREP, DEC 19 1943
FROM: CMDR S RIGGS (ACTING CHIEF OF STAFF) LOCATION: BAALKPAN X FOR COTGA (CHAIRMAN OF THE GRAND ALLIANCE) ADAR
TO: ALL STATIONS SPC X CAPTAIN M P REDDY CINCAAF (COMMANDER IN CHIEF ALL ALLIED FORCES) CINCEAST COMM FLEET 2 LOCATION: EMPIRE OF NEW BRITAIN ISLES X HER EXCELLENCY SAAN-KAKJA HIGH CHIEF FIL-PIN LANDS X COLONEL T SHINYA LOCATION: MAA-NI-LA X HIS EXCELLENCY ADMIRAL KEJE-FRIS-AR CINCWEST COMM FLEET 1 X GENERAL P ALDEN X LOCATION: ANDAMAN ISLAND X HIS EXCELLENCY ADMIRAL SOR-LOMAAK COMM TF “OILCAN,” X LOCATION: EASTERN SEA X EYES ONLY DISTRIBUTE AT DISCRETION X BAALKPAN: SALVAGED STEAMER SANTA CATALINA ARRIVED SAFELY UNDER POWER X MAJORITY CARGO OFF- LOADED X WILL ENTER DRY DOCK FOR REMAINDER CARGO REMOVAL X SEAPLANE CARRIER ARRACCA (CV-3) WILL DEPART IN COMPANY NEW BATTLE GROUP AND TROOPSHIPS X AIR WING WORKING-UP EN ROUTE ANDAMAN X ALLIED COUNCIL CONDITIONALLY ACCEPTS MEMBERSHIP RESPITE ISLAND AND EMPIRE NEW BRITAIN ISLES INTO GRAND ALLIANCE X AWAIT REPRESENTATIVES XXX MAA-NI-LA: CAPITAL FIL-PIN LANDS ESCAPED SERIOUS DAMAGE FROM TIDAL WAVE CAUSED BY ERUPTION TALAUD ISLAND X OTHER FIL-PIN LANDS HOMES SUFFERED GRAVELY X PAGA-DAAN ALMOST WIPED OUT X RESCUE EFFORT INVOLVING LAND AND NAVAL FORCES CONTINUES X WILL DELAY DEPLOYMENT SOME ELEMENTS X TF (TASK FORCE) MAKAA- KAKJA (CV-4) AND BATTLE GROUP READY TO DEPLOY X RELUCTANTLY CONCUR NECESSITY TO SEND IT EAST TO AID CAPTAIN REDDY AND IMPERIALS X COLONEL SHINYA CAN DEPLOY DIVISION IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS X WHERE SEND? X SUBMARINE S-19 PASSENGERS AND CREW-INCLUDING SEVENTY-ONE (71) EX-TAGRANESI (LAWRENCE PEOPLE) SAFE IN MAA-NI-LA X WHERE SEND? X NAVY OILER RETURNED FROM RESPITE ISLAND WITH FIRST LOAD HUMAN FEMALES X WHERE SEND? XXX EMPIRE OF NEW BRITAIN ISLES: COMPANY COLLABORATION WITH FORCES “HOLY DOMINION” QUASHED ON ALL ISLANDS EXCEPT NEW IRELAND X DOMINION/REBEL FORCES STRONGLY POSITIONED THERE X NOT KNOWN IF WORD OF HOSTILITIES HAS REACHED DOMINION PROPER BUT PRISONERS SAY HOSTILITIES LONG EXPECTED X FOUNDERS’ DAY CELEBRATION JAN 5 1944 IS DATE AFTER WHICH THINGS WILL “AUTOMATICALLY HAPPEN” X GOVERNOR- EMPEROR AND COMMODORE JENKS SUSPECT MOVE AGAINST CONTINENTAL IMPERIAL HOLDINGS AT LEAST X REPAIRS USS WALKER ALMOST COMPLETE X WALKER AND SIMMS REMAIN ONLY US NAVY ELEMENTS IN THEATER X ANTICIPATE ARRIVAL TF “OILCAN” SO CAN COMMENCE OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS X HOPE ECONOMIC ADVICE HELPFUL X NEED MORE MARINES XXX ANDAMAN: PORT FACILITIES INCLUDING FLOATING DRY DOCK AND AIRSTRIP NEAR COMPLETE X TF GARRETT REMAINS ON BLOCKADE DUTY X ALL OTHER ALLIED FORCES INCLUDING I AND III AND IV CORPS-FIRST FLEET COMPOSED OF SALISSA (CV-1) AND HUMFRA-DAR (CV-2) BATTLE GROUPS AND TRANSPORTS READY TO COMMENCE OFFENSIVE OPS CEYLON IN MOST RESPECTS X THANKS FOR SENDING CMDR LETTS TO SORT OUT MESS! X HIS PLANE ARRIVED SAFELY YESTERDAY
XXX MESSAGE ENDS XXX
CHAPTER 1
“Western” (Indian) Ocean
Commander Greg Garrett, former gunnery officer of the old Asiatic Fleet “four-stacker” destroyer USS Walker (DD-163), now captain of the sailing frigate USS Donaghey, leaned on the starboard quarterdeck rail, staring through his binoculars. The colors of the sea and sky had proclaimed their independence from each other and a yellow-red smear splashed the eastern horizon. The boisterous sea was becoming a tumultuous, toothy, pink-tinged purple. The Lemurian lookout, high in the maintop, had sighted dawn-spangled sails to the northeast with her keen eyes, but Garrett still saw nothing. As he searched, the sun darted tentative beams over the distant, hazy line of the continent.
“What have we, sur?” asked Lieutenant Saaran-Gaani, joining Greg beside the rail. Saaran was Donaghey’ s exec, her “salig maa-stir,” in the Lemurian vernacular. He’d replaced Muraak-Saanga, who’d been recently appointed to cothe new USS Tassat when Garrett declined the honor in favor of remaining with Donaghey. Saaran was a bona fide “Sky Priest,” of a southern denomination, so he filled the “sailing master” role without suffering any of the religious resentment that sometimes plagued laymen in his post. More and more Sky Priests joined the Navy these days, surely out of patriotism, but also possibly to help secure their relevance in these strange, transitional times.
Garrett didn’t care about that. Saaran was a fantastic navigator, as were most of his order, but like Adar-the “highest-ranking” Sky Priest Greg knew-Saaran was a fanatic for “the cause.” Greg lowered his binoculars and looked at him. The oversize, dark amber eyes gazing back were common among Lemurians, but the fine, almost perfectly symmetrical coat of brown and white fur was unusual. Lemurians could be almost any color and were often striped, blotched, or even brindled, but not many had so much white. Greg shrugged mentally. Sky Priests were often odd in a number of ways. In Saaran’s case, it might even be his “southern” lineage. He was one of the few ’Cats from the Great South Island, the land humans remembered as Australia, who’d joined “the Grand Alliance” so far. He even talked funny. Word was, some “land Homes” of north and west “Australia,” culturally similar to Baalkpan and Maa-ni-la, were forming regiments and might apply for full membership in the Alliance. Garrett hoped they would. This war was a fight for all Lemurians to make-all people of whatever race or species.
Regardless of where he was from, Saaran was an aggressive, eager student of naval warfare, and Garrett felt lucky to have him. He scratched the dark hair poking from under his hat with his left hand, while still holding the binoculars with his right.
“Sails,” Garrett replied. “Plural. No count yet. Lookout caught ’em in the northeast, probably sailing in column. I can’t see squat from here.”
“Ah,” Saaran said, smiling. “The predawn ‘GQ’ strikes again!”
Garrett smiled too. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d snapped up a Grik ship simply by being on their toes at that critical time of day.
“Maybe. I hope so. It’s been a little boring out here lately.”
“Boring!” Saaran huffed. Donaghey and her sister, Tolson, under the command of Russ Chapelle, as well as the newly arrived Revenge, were blockading the western approaches to Ceylon and India. Besides the occasional enemy ship, these waters teemed with some of the most dangerous creatures in the known world. They were packed with an unprecedented (in their experience) density of ridiculously large and scary predators-some more than capable of destroying ships twice as large as theirs. The Navy had developed countermeasures that worked- when there was time to deploy them-but discovering the threat in the first place was the tricky part. Dangerous submarine creatures, like submarine boats, were difficult to detect and the “blockading squadron” was operating on one of the most nerve-racking stations imaginable.
“Well, maybe not bored,” Greg allowed, “but there hasn’t been much ‘business’ since we clobbered that east-bound convoy a couple of weeks ago.” He shook his head. “As I said before, I think they’ve figured out that somebody out here is beating up the mailman!”
Donaghey and Tolson had been making things rough on the Grik “mailman” for a while now, paired continuously since Tolson’ s return from a special mission to Tjilatjap (Chill-Chaap) where Russ helped salvagean old freighter-and her impossibly valuable cargo. The two “first new construction” frigates were the last dedicated “sailors” in the Navy besides the dozens of prize “Indiamen” that had been “razeed” into swift, lightly armed corvettes, and they were commanded by the most experienced skippers. Not only were they independent of fuel
